Tofu Goes Dancing! Eat Baby Eat. Dance Baby D-A-N-C-E.

I have decided to make changes in my writing style and henceforth the assault of my post will be loaded with nuked chili's  and spicy flames and turn it into the Hall of Fame, virtual museum of a Food-0-cholic.

The virtual tour guide for the herbivorous  food junkie is now ready with its anti gravity laws and therefore be prepared for a free floating experience with spice wounds and flaming recipes.

Tofu was the most despised food by me at an early age.  My early experiences with it in China in early 90s were like a dog, which would swing its head violently from one end to the other after having chewed a non palatable meat. I tried again in Philippines food court and the experience was then fully stamped into my body that Tofu was not from the same galaxy as all my edibles came from.

After having moved into Indonesia, the system would always show Err. If mistakenly Tofu got closer to me, it would give the unforgiving bounce to my heart. But then someday a friendly virus ( if at all that exist) moved its way right down to the navel . Fried Tofu with Raw Chilli opened the gates of Tofu into my system . It now seemed that it was a Pluto relative of the humble Paneer ( Indian cottage cheese)

Jackie Chan pulled out a fiery recipe from his hat and I jumped at it. Like Man Like, Share Man Share.

Tofu With Chives and Red Peppers

Tofu with Chives and Red Chilies

Serves : 2

Time : 10 mins

Tofu Silken Variety : 200 gms

Chives : One Bunch

Red Chili   : 2 to 3

Olive Oil : 3 spoons.

Salt to Taste

Turmeric : Half spoon

Very simple recipe.

Cube the Tofu into size as in picture

Fry it in a wok and take it out , when slightly brown

Cut the chives in small pieces and same for the red chilies .

Fry the chives and the red chilies for around 2 minutes and add Fried Tofu, top it with turmeric

Fry for another 1 minutes and add salt

Eat Baby Eat , Dance Baby D-A-N-C-E

Dig your fingers into it and lick it to sublime sensation.

Caution  : Keep Fire Hydrant in the other hand for knock down possibilities.

What Did The Corn Say To The Mint...................

Since my tummy size has reached such a state that further expansion will only mean explosion, so I am thinking better to get the tummy exploded rather then burn my body on the tread mill.

I am constantly losing my battle against the weighing machine. Further the graying hair keeps reminding me of the wisdom that tooth fall would start in another one decade , so better I close my glut journey each day with drooling delights.

At 50+ age and 50 odd countries traveled, I was always a food junkie. But before the food blogs came up, I assumed that I was the most hungry herbivorous creature in the world and could not help stopping myself at each nice looking food stop, whether a hole in the wall or a 5* restaurant.  Nevertheless, now with zillions of food blogs up in the air, I am relieved that I am not alone in this Jamat ( group).

This Sunday, I tried my hand on the Corn Salad after having picked up frozen corn packet from the supermarket. Here is the result.

Corn Salad

 The Evil Recipe!

Serves : 4

Time : 5mins

Corn : 200gms frozen thawed or fresh.

Shallots : 5Nos  chipped,

Mint : Hanfulllll coarsely chopped.

Corainder : Coarsely chopped.

Red Hot Pepper : 1 cut into large chunks for its wonderful color.

Baby Tomatoes : 2 to 3 Nos, smartly cut

Green Chillies : Only if you like the salad with heat.

Few drops of Vinegar

Few drops of Olive Oil

One Lemon squeezed for its Juice.

Salt to Taste

Pepper to Waist.

Mix all the above in your favorite bowl and spread.

Enjoy!

Corn Corn Come Again, Cross the Road and Jump Again!

Spaghetti Sambal

Spaghetti Sambal was a brilliant idea from my Nephew  Abhishek, who is growing taller faster then the eucalyptus tree. My sister and family were here last month and were enjoying Bali and elsewhere. The Sambal was one of the major attractions of the culinary experience in Indonesia. Abhishek commented on designing Spaghetti with Sambal and it immediately caught my attention.

Abhishek followed by his mother.

This weekend, I designed the recipe and here comes the first version of Spaghetti Sambal.

Well, I used the Spinach Spaghetti and therefore the greenish color. The simple recipe is as below

Serves : 4

Time : 15 minutes

Calories : Medium

Spaghetti : 250 gms

Tomat : 1 No

Shallots : 5

Garlic : 2 Buds

Red Chillies : 3 Nos

Green Chillies : 5 Nos.

Salt : To Taste

Coriander Leaves : For Dressing

Sambal Ingredients

On the Stone Mortar and Pestle  crush the above ingredients after diced  and keep adding water

Should Look Like This.

Take this into a Wok and heat the same .

Spaghetti to be softened in warm water for 8 to 10 minutes  and then water drained.

Serve Spaghetti and Pour the Sambal on Top

Enjoy

Strip Sliced Salad with Garlic Buds!

This weekend, I tried a new salad recipe by strip slicing most of the greens and here comes the result.

Strip Sliced Salad With Garlic Buds and Capers

Green cabbage, red cabbage, shallots, yellow , green and red capsicum, green chillies longs, red chillie longs, mushroom longs, garlic buds, lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil. All mixed and comes out a very tasty salad. The key is cutting fine strips of not more then 2 mm of each of these components.

Mint And Cucumbur Chilled Mineral Water

The water bottle Industry has been working overtime to make variants of simple water. If you visit your super market, there is mineral water, special added minerals , oxygen water and so on and so forth.

Here in my variant

Cucumber seeded and thinly sliced, mint leaves, lemon slices and filled to the brim with holy water.

Tom Yum For The Soul

Tom Yum Kha ( Veggie Variety ) is my favorite soup. Followed by Minestrone and followed by French onion.

Tom Yum For You

Why is it called Tom Yum is a Long Story.
Tom Thumb on his trip to Thailand got lost in the Pat Pong District. One of the Madame there thought, this was a good piece of show articles along with the dancing girls.  While performing, the show girl happened to drop Tom Thumb into the soup of the customer. The soup obviously became yummy and since then it is called the Tom Yum.

Recipe is simple

• Tom Yum Paste ; 3 Tsp.( Avl in all supermarkets)
• Ginger : Half Thumb
• Garlic Cloves : 5 to 6
• Corainder leaves : Small Bunch
• Mint Leaves : Small Bunch
• Lemongrass : 1 to 2 stalks
• Mushrooms : 5 to 6
• Baby Carrots : 3 to 4
• Bean Stalk : Few
• Red Raddish: 3 nos, cubed
• .Green Chillies : 6 ;
• chopped to sizeRed
•  Chillies : 3; cut to size
• Tofu : 3 to 4 cubed
• Baby corns : 3 ;cut to size
• Shallots : 6 nos.
• Lemon : 1 No.
• Lemon Leaves : 2 nos,
•  Soy Sauce : 1 tsp
• Chlli Sauce : 1 tspSalt to taste
• Coconut milk : 1 cup
• Vegetable Stock : 1 Litre
• Olive Oil : 4 tsp.

Heat the oil and  fry the chopped garlic and followed by ginger, then pour the veggies , except for coriander and mint leaves. Allow the veggies to brown up a little and set it aside.

Boil the veggie stock and add coconut milk. Bring down the temperature and add 3 tsp of Tom Yum Paste.  Followed by soy sauce and chilli sauce.

Add the veggies and allow the soup to take all the flavors, then add the coriander and mint leaves and allow it to simmer on low heat for say 5 to 7 minutes. Check the salt and add more , if required. Squeeze the lemon on top and serve hot.

The shallots were fried and Topped Up as my tweak to the original recipe.

Kayumanis Ubud - Bali

This year break got planned in a Super Luxury Resort - Kayumanis in Ubud, Bali.

I was a little confused between Four Seasons or Kayumanis and then finally clicked my credit card on Kayumanis. It is always a little bit of a gamble, when you book a resort based on reviews and internet pictures. Kayumanis does not show up on Tripadvisor as the top 10 resorts in Ubud, so it was still a bigger gamble. Well it is real expensive, but if you are looking for an upscale resort, then this is a good option.

However, the holiday turned out to be a real charm.

Well most of the forest attached resorts are based in Sayan, which is outskirts of Ubud, around 8 to 10 mins drive from the town. Ubud is a nice small town famous for its art, sculpture, writers, painters and   rice fields.

This time, I wanted my holiday to be in a forest resort, so the closest you could get was Ubud in Bali. Kayumanis in Bhasa Indonesia means Cinnamon Sticks. Well, that is how the Resort could be well described. Sweet with special Cinnamon flavor. Though, first time , as you drive in, it goes through small lanes and you feel little odd as to where in the narrow lane the resort is located. But finally, you enter to a hidden gem.

Though booked for Single Bedroom villa, got upgraded to a palatial Double Bedroom Villa facing the forest. The villa had its own kitchenette and a large plunge pool with a view of greens stretching to infinity. The single bedroom villas are a little like your own private place, but do not open up to the green forest. Though are quite nicely laid out. My last night was in the single bedroom villa. So, if you are fussy about a magnificent view, then make sure, that you book only the double bedroom villa or request for an upgrade.

You have a car and driver at your disposal to drive you to the town anytime, so the very first night, I stocked my kitchen and tried my usual stunts of cooking.

Besides own cooking, tried the Thai food at Siam Sally and would highly recommend the same to everyone. The food is generally cheap in all the restaurants, given the fierce competition and normally priced between $ 4 to $ 6 per dish.  The upscale restaurants are Mosaic, Casa Luna, Lamak, Terazo.

There are variety of Indian restaurants viz, Queens, Sitara, Saraswati and Indian Delite. Sitara and Queen are recommended. Saraswati is oddly located, but is a nice small vegetarian restaurant. Indian Delite is mediocre.

Overall, Kayumanis break was Soul Soaking with a good start to the new year. The bedroom is well laid out with an open air bathroom. The balcony opens to the stretched infinite view of greens. One sees the sun setting down into nowhere from your villa.

Kayumanis served a special breakfast for me , Vegetable Biryani and Pepper Yogurt  besides, breads,  Croissants , honey and much much more. It also serves a wonderful afternoon tea with lovely assortment of snacks. The supply of water bottles is endless. The room is well stocked with a mini bar and special cookies. Everything topped up each day. All this is included in the room price.

Technically speaking, other then the room charge, you end up paying nothing more. The problem with  most other resorts is that you keep signing bills for water bottles to afternoon tea, etc etc. And you have to depend upon the shuttle bus to drop you and bring you back , where as in Kayumanis, you choose your timing of driving down to the town for dinner.

Enjoy here the pictures of my villa at Kayumanis and my cooking.

View From Villa

More View

View From Restaurant

The Living Room For Villa

Biryani Breakfast With Pepper Yogurt

Natures way of Tying up Leaves

Dal Cooked By Me At Villa

Afternoon Tea At Villa

Dal And Ladies Finger : My Cooking

Single Bedroom Villa Living Room

The View From Bedroom Of Living Room

Another Afternoon Tea

Pepper Yogurt

View From Room

Breakfast

View Of Villa Double Bedroom

 Well, after 10 days of long sojourn, you already feel getting back to the mad world.